Deloitte warns over 90% of user-generated passwords will be vulnerable to hacking this year

Deloitte has claimed that over 90 per cent of user-generated passwords will be vulnerable to hacking in 2013, which it says could result in billions of dollars of loss, declining confidence in internet transactions and loss in trust of the businesses who fall victim.

This comes after it was found last year that ‘password’ and ‘123456’ are still passwords used by some internet users.

Jolyon Barker, global lead for Deloitte's technology, media and telecommunications industry, said “Whilst moving to stronger, longer passwords means greater levels of security, people understandably find these harder to remember.”

Barker added that two-factor authentication could help to make passwords more secure: for example, passwords being sent to a user’s smartphone, or a physical device that plugs into a USB slot.

This follows sites such as LinkedIn, GoDaddy and Blizzard being attacked by hackers last year.